6 Things You'll Miss About Sorority Rush When Your College Days Are Over

If you’re in a sorority during college, fall rush can sometimes feel like a chore. And I know I felt that way when I was an active member.

You likely have to return to campus earlier than non-Greek students. You spend long days and even longer nights preparing for recruitment parties in your chapter’s house.

You'll probably also get stressed out because you’re partially in charge of choosing your sorority’s future legacy.

However, now that I’ve graduated from college (and participating in sorority rush is no longer one of my responsibilities), there are actually a lot of things I miss about it.

Here are the top six things I miss about rush (and you will, too):

1. You’ll miss seeing all your sisters weeks before school begins.

Moving back to your dorm early for rush does cut your summer short, but it also has its benefits.

You get to settle in prior to the start of classes, and move-in is a lot quicker and smoother when your college town is less populated.

Let’s not forget, you also have more time to hang out with your sorority sisters before everyone else arrives on campus.

In college, four years tend to fly by, so any extra minutes you get with your friends should be cherished.

2. You’ll miss the early mornings and sleepless nights.

One of the most seemingly irritating things about rush is the lack of sleep.

Typically, members of a sorority need to be dressed and ready to go long before potential new members walk through their chapter house’s doors each morning.

Active members of the sorority also tend to stay up really late discussing, voting and decorating the house for more rush parties the following day.

Yes, it’s exhausting, but those long hours seriously contribute to bettering your sorority, whether you realize it or not.

You become more connected to your chapter, and the delusion you might feel due to lack of sleep only creates more hilarious memories.

3. You’ll miss making unlikely friendships with your sisters.

If you’re part of a large sorority, chances are you’re not BFFs with every single girl in your chapter. However, that can change during a fast-paced and unusual time like fall recruitment.

As you talk to sisters during rush parties, you might realize you have a lot more in common with certain girls than you originally thought.

Not to mention, the high-stress nature of the week causes you to rely on all your sisters more than ever.

4. You’ll miss bonding over everything that annoys you.

To be honest, there are a lot of annoying things about rush. Tensions are high, and opinionated sisters tend to get even more vocal, which can lead to some low-key cat fights.

However, at the end of the day, you can go back to your dorm and vent to your roommates.

And if all your roommates are Greek, you can chat about the aggravating, rush-related things that are bothering you. Ultimately, you'll get closer with them because of it.

5. You’ll miss meeting freshmen and selecting new members.

Yes, it's annoying to maintain a (sometimes fake) smile all day, but the conversations you have with potential new members are important.

Participating in sorority rush allows you to hand-pick the women you want to be the future members of your chapter. After you graduate, these women will represent everything it means to be a member of your sorority.

Meeting them and voting on them gives you an immense amount of responsibility and power.

When you’re no longer an active member of your chapter, you’ll look back on all those rush parties and wish you still had such a direct impact on the destiny of your chapter.

6. You’ll miss Bid Day and, perhaps more importantly, Bid Night.

Bid Day is amazing. I mean, how many times in life do you get to watch your hard work pay off in such a literal and visual way?

Seeing young freshmen so excited to join your sisterhood is an awesome reminder of why you joined your sorority in the first place.

And don’t get me started on bid night.

Going out to the first frat parties of the year after being cooped up in a house all week is extremely liberating.

It’s also a well-deserved celebration. Bid Day and Bid Night will always be some of my best memories from college because the combination of relief and excitement for the semester to come.

So yes, rush can be annoying and exhausting, but it’s also totally worth it. If you have the privilege of still being an active member of your sorority, try to not take it for granted.

Remember: Some day you’ll be an old, nostalgic alum like me, and you’ll wonder where all the time went.